The present invention relates to food products and to methods of their preparation. More particularly, the present invention relates to frozen spoonable batters for baked goods and to their methods of preparation.
Baking a flour-based batter typically makes muffins or other related finished leavened farinaceous baked goods. The batters can be prepared from scratch forming a batter comprising flour, sugar, salt, water or milk, a fat (e.g., vegetable oil or shortening and/or butter), eggs, leavening, and various optional other ingredients. Also well known are dry mixes where the user prepares a batter by adding liquids to dry ingredients and then cooking the batter soon after its preparation.
Dry mixes that contain all dry ingredients necessary for preparing the batter and requiring only the addition of water or milk to prepare the batter provide more convenience. Such xe2x80x9ccompletexe2x80x9d dry mixes are especially popular in food service applications such as restaurants, cafeterias for schools hospitals, prisons, and other commercially prepared foods inasmuch as the labor and skill necessary to prepare large quantities of high quality prepared foods is minimized. Increasingly, more people spend a greater portion of their food expenditures on such commercially prepared food than on traditional at-home preparation of food. While better restaurants employ highly trained and skilled chefs, a large number of establishments employ low skilled or even illiterate labor for whom instructions as simple as adding equal parts dry mix to water is too complicated to be practical.
Batters that are already prepared and are ready for use would provide even more convenience. However, batters must be used soon after their preparation lest they lose their leavening. Over time, the leavening acids react with and thereby consume the CO2 generating ingredient. Also, batters generally require refrigeration to prevent microbial spoilage. The art includes numerous references directed towards provision of such batters that attempt to overcome either the loss of leavening or spoilage. Leavened farinaceous articles that are shelf stable at room temperatures are known but are quite expensive. (See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,893 entitled xe2x80x9cProduct and Process of Making a Room Temperature Storage Stable Doughxe2x80x9d, or U.S. Pat. No. 4,904, 493 entitled xe2x80x9cShelf-Stable Patisserie Doughxe2x80x9d, or EP 0868850 entitled xe2x80x9cRead-to-Bake, Shelf stable cake dough and process for its manufacturexe2x80x9d). Often, such products are so low in moisture to be doughs rather than batters. The foods usually include coated leavening ingredients to minimize reaction during storage.
Since both spoilage and leavening reactions are temperature dependent, greater storage stability is more easily obtained with refrigerated batters. However, such refrigerated batters nonetheless require coating or physically sequestering one or more of the leavening ingredients and protection against microbial spoilage such as heat treatment or ultra high-pressure sterilization. Once a container is opened, the balance of the batter must be used soon thereafter to minimize microbial spoilage.
Also known are unaerated frozen batters for baked goods for foodservice that are sold in gallon sized tubs. However, the products are frozen solid blocks at freezer temperatures and require up to 36 hours of refrigerated temperature thawing prior to use. The thawed products must be used within a short period of time. While capable of being refrozen, use after being refrozen suffers from inconsistent or poor baking properties.
The present invention provides further improvements in food services batters for baked goods. In particular, the present invention provides complete batters that require no further addition of ingredients or further processing prior to baking. The present invention further provides batters that can be stored for extended times without disabling loss of leavening. Surprisingly, containers of the present batters can be partially used and allows for return of the unused portion of the batter to storage without fear of spoilage or loss of leavening or other functionality. The present batters are provided in a form that is easy to use and is less messy to use than conventional liquid batter products. The present batters are easily formed into desired sized quantities for baking.
The present advantages are provided by complete batters that are chemically leavened with quick acting leavening prior to freezing to form aerated deformable leavened complete baking batters. The batters further essentially comprise a slow acting leavening acid that is activated during the baking cycle to provide leavening during baking. Thus, the present foods are to be distinguished from those dry mix compositions and batters made therefrom that are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,353 entitled xe2x80x9cDry Mix For Microwave Layer Cakexe2x80x9d that issued in August 1989. The dry mixes of the ""353 patent comprise full formulation dry mixes for layer cakes including importantly the combination of a xe2x80x9cnucleating agentxe2x80x9d and only a fast acting chemical leavening system. Those batters are not taught to be chemically leavened at room temperature prior to freezing.
In its product aspect, the present invention resides in frozen complete partially leavened spoonable leavening containing ready-to-bake batter articles.
The batter essentially comprises flour, water, fat, about 20 to 30% (dry weight basis) of a high maltose corn syrup and the balance of conventional batter ingredients such as starches, flavors (e.g., chocolate), egg or egg solids, humectants, gums, salt, etc. The batters contain less than about 5% of conventional reducing or browning sugars such as sucrose, fructose, dextrose, lactose, honey etc. The batters are chemically leavened to a density of about 0.9 to 1.0 g/cc prior to freezing to temperatures ranging from about to xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C. to 0xc2x0 C. In certain embodiments, the batter contains protected leavening.
A. about 10 to 40% flour;
B. about 20 to 30% (dry weight basis) of a high maltose corn syrup;
C. about 10 to 20% of edible oil having a melting point of about xe2x89xa620xc2x0 C.;
D. about 0.5% to 5% of a chemical leavening system;
E. about 1 to 8% of a humectant selected from the group consisting of glycerol, sorbitol, xylitol, propylene glycol and mixtures thereof;
F. about 0.1% to about 1% nucleating agent;
G. a moisture content of about 5% to 20%; and having a browning-type reducing sugars content of less than about 5%, and wherein the batter is chemically leavened to a density of about 0.9 to 1.1 g/cc.
The batter is soft and scoopable at frozen temperatures and can be scooped right out of the freezer into baking containers, e.g., muffin tins, and baked into muffins.
In its process aspect, the present invention is directed to processes for making a frozen chemically leavened ready-to-bake batter article. The process comprises the steps of:
Admixing to form a batter:
A. about 10 to 40% flour;
B. about 20 to 30% (dry weight basis) of a high maltose corn syrup;
C. about 10 to 20% of edible oil having a melting point of about xe2x89xa620xc2x0 C.;
D. about 0.5% to 5% chemical leavening; said chemical leavening including at least a first fast acting leavening acid and a second slow acting leavening acid and a baking soda;
E. about 1 to 8% of a humectant selected from the group consisting of glycerol, sorbitol, xylitol, propylene glycol and mixtures thereof;
F. about 0.1% to about 1% nucleating agent;
F. a moisture content of about 5% to 20%; and having a browning-type reducing sugars content of less than about 5%, and forming a chemically leavened batter having a density of about 0.9 to 1.1 g/cc by allowing the fast reacting leavening acid to react with a portion of the baking soda; and,
Quiescently freezing the chemically leavened batter to form a scoopable frozen batter having a slow acting chemical leavening system.